


TJLC - gay subplots in canon?

by Sherloki1854



Series: Johnlock in the original canon [5]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Gay Subplots, Johnlock - Freeform, M/M, Meta, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Freeform, Subtext, TJLC | The Johnlock Conspiracy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 05:58:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4595505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sherloki1854/pseuds/Sherloki1854
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are some quite interesting subplots in the original canon, mirroring Holmes's and Watson's relationship. Here you go.<br/>NB: I posted this already, but I'm now tidying up and thought I'd post it as a work and not a chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	TJLC - gay subplots in canon?

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a few flames lately, which would bother me less if it didn't make me think of how awful it is that there are some people in the fandom who seem to waste time on making other people's lives miserable. Seriously, if you don't like it, then don't read it.

Just a few out of many instances where subplots or allusions point towards Holmes and Watson being together – mirroring is used very frequently to show the literal elephant in the room...

 

**The Sign of Four** , chapter 9

“ _In the early dawn I woke with a start and was surprised to find him standing by my bedside, clad in a rude sailor dress with a peajacket and a coarse red scarf round his neck._

_ "I am off down the river, Watson," said he. "I have been turning it over in my mind, and I can see only one way out of it. It is worth trying, at all events."  _

_ "Surely I can come with you, then?" said I.  _

_ "No [...] _ "”

One of the code signs that gay men used were red kerchiefs, and which translates to Holmes's red scarf quite neatly, especially given the thing I explained above with the docks. He goes off to investigate the docks, and Watson would accompany him, but Holmes is always one to “spare” Watson reconnaissance, and The Sign of Four is packed with angst anyway, so Holmes would not want Watson to come along. I suppose this scene is not exactly paramount. But the thought of Holmes possibly posing as a rent boy for a case is rather nice, is it not?

 

 

**A Study in Scarlet** , chapter 6

Inspector Gregson: “ _The young man volunteered a statement, in which he said that after following Drebber some time, the latter perceived him, and took a cab in order to get away from him._ _On his way home he met an old shipmate, and took a long walk with him. On being asked where this old shipmate lived, he was unable to give any satisfactory reply._ ”

What on Earth did those two shipmates (it is becoming a cliche and I am perfectly aware of it, but it fits too well) do in the middle of the night for several hours? It is repeated over and over that that particular night was extremely rainy, so the “walk” cannot have happened. Homosexual subplot number one – and in the first story already. What was Watson thinking when he decided to include this? Foreshadowing? After all, the story was not published until 1887.

 

 

**The Priory School**

The Duke explaining his son's relationship with the main villain: “ _The fellow was a rascal from the beginning; but in some extraordinary way James became_ _intimate_ _with him. He had always a taste for low company._ ”

And his Grace clearly does not approve, and with a good reason in this case. Mr James Wilder will proceed to emigrate to Australia at the end of the story. Oh. Again?

 

 

**The Gloria Scott**

Holmes recounting his first case to Watson years later, and speaking for the first time of his only friend: “ _Trevor used to come in to inquire after me. At first it was only a minute's chat, but soon his visits lengthened, and before the end of the term we were_ _close friends_ _. He was_ _a hearty, full-blooded fellow, full of spirits and energy_ _, the very opposite to me in most respects, but we had some subjects in common, and it was_ _a bond of union_ _when I found that he was as friendless as I. Finally, he invited me down to his father's place at Donnithorpe, in Norfolk, and I accepted his hospitality for_ _a month_ _of the long vacation._ ”

I am very sorry but this does not sound like an only-a-friend “friend” all that much, to be honest.

If anyone is interested, the story's plot is that Trevor's father is blackmailed (!) by a sailor (!) about something that happened years ago on a ship (!). Fine, let us just call it a trope. But really.

This is what Holmes tells us about the aftermath of the revelation of what his father did on that ship for Victor Trevor: “ _The good fellow was heart-broken at it, and_ _went out to the Terai tea planting_ _, where I hear that he is doing well._ ”

Does this flight/exile remind us of anybody in specific? No?

 

 

**Wisteria Lodge**

Mr Scott Eccles about himself and Mr Garcia:

“ _"I'm sure it must look very bad, Mr. Holmes, and I am not aware that in my whole life such a thing has ever happened before. But I will tell you the whole queer business, and when I have done so you will admit, I am sure, that there has been enough to excuse me."_

_[...]_

_"I am a bachelor," said he, "and being of a sociable turn I cultivate a large number of friends. Among these are the family of a retired brewer called Melville, living at Abermarle Mansion, Kensington. It was at his table that I met some weeks ago a young fellow named Garcia. He was, I understood, of Spanish descent and connected in some way with the embassy. He spoke perfect English, was pleasing in his manners, and as good-looking a man as ever I saw in my life._

_In some way we struck up  quite a friendship, this young fellow and I. He seemed to take a fancy to me from the first, and within two days of our meeting he came to see me at Lee. One thing led to another, and it ended in his inviting me out to spend a few days at his house, Wisteria Lodge, between Esher and Oxshott. Yesterday evening I went to Esher to fulfill this engagement."_ ”

No need to comment much on this one; “one thing led to another” is pretty unambiguous.

 

 

**The Blanched Soldier**

James M Dodd speaking about Godfrey Emsworth:

“ _There was_ _not a finer lad_ _in the regiment. We formed a_ _friendship_ _— the sort of friendship which can only be made when one_ _lives the same life_ _and_ _shares the same joys and sorrows_ _. He was my_ _mate_ _— and that means a good deal in the Army._ _We took the rough and the smooth together_ _for a year of hard fighting. Then he was hit with a bullet from an elephant gun in the action near Diamond Hill outside-Pretoria. I got one letter from the hospital at Cape Town and one from Southampton. Since then not a word — not one word, Mr. Holmes, for six months and more, and he my_ _closest_ _pal.”_

“ _Well, when the war was over, and we all got back, I wrote to his father and asked where Godfrey was. No answer. I waited a bit and then I wrote again. This time I had a reply, short and gruff. Godfrey had gone on a voyage round the world, and it was not likely that he would be back for a year. That was all. I wasn't satisfied, Mr. Holmes. The whole thing seemed to me so damned unnatural. He was a good lad, and he would not drop a pal like that. It was not like him. Then, again, I happened to know that he was heir to a lot of money, and also that his father and he did not always hit it off too well. The old man was sometimes a bully, and young Godfrey had too much spirit to stand it. No, I wasn't satisfied, and I determined that I would get to the root of the matter. [...] Since I have taken it up_ _I mean to drop everything in order to see it through_ _.”_

Speaking to Godfrey's father:  _“ I was fond of your son Godfrey, sir. Many ties and memories united us. Is it not natural that I should wonder at his sudden silence and should wish to know what has become of him?”_

A love declaration to the father: “ _You must put it down, sir, to my real love for your son.”_

The father then speaks of  _“a delicate and difficult position.”_

And guess into what direction James's thoughts immediately go – he knows his friend very well: _The old man's words seemed to me to bear only one interpretation. Clearly my poor friend had become involved in some criminal or, at the least, disreputable transaction which touched the family honour. That stern old man had sent his son away and hidden him from the world lest some scandal should come to light. Godfrey was a reckless fellow. He was easily influenced by those around him. No doubt he had fallen into bad hands and been misled to his ruin._

Of course, there has to be a happy ending: the father mistook a skin disease Godfrey had for leprosy and locked him up with his consent, and this is the friends' (lovers') reunion:

“ _A man was standing with his back to the fire, and at the sight of him my client sprang forward with outstretched hand._

_"Why, Godfrey, old man, this is fine!"_

_But the other waved him back._

_"Don't touch me, Jimmie. Keep your distance. Yes, you may well stare! I don't quite look the smart Lance-Corporal Emsworth, of B Squadron, do I?"”_

Nicknames? Comments on smart looks? Also, so much love and angst... This is not even a subplot any more. This is just a love story as a plot, and nobody noticed back then...

 

 

As said above, subplots are important because they mirror Holmes and Watson and they would not be noticed by most readers, especially, of course, when the stories are set. 

I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have a tumblr blog now! Check it out if you're interested in Holmes's and Watson's lives in the original canon, and in meta in general! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sherloki1854


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